10 Bizarre Brain Disorders That Are Mistaken For Psychiatric Problems Instead

All over the world, it is mental illness that is seriously taking a toll of people. It is the fast paced stress induced lifestyle that is more often than not a big contributor to this fact. That and also the constant feeling of low self esteem, a lack of confidence and unsuccessful career are also aspects which cause mental problems. However, what many don’t know is that there are several mental conditions that are labeled as psychiatric conditions but are actually due to a problem in one’s physiology, especially a brain disorder. Some of these you may have not even heard of. Here are ten of them.

1Anti-NMDA Receptor Encephalitis

Autoimmune diseases can be deadly and there are many that are already known for decades now. But anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis is fairly new and just been discovered as an autoimmune disease that makes the brain swell. The symptoms are more psychiatric in nature and causes hallucinations, violence, aggression, delusions and the feeling that one might be possessed by demons.  Some patients will also develop seizures and it is easy for bigoted communities to mistake such a problem as bipolar disorder, possession or even violent schizophrenia. One such anti-NMDA expert, Doctor Souhel Najjar days that almost 90% of anti NMDA cases are misdiagnosed for other psychiatric problems.

2The case of Susannah Cahalan

Susannah Cahalan 24 was up to her neck in medical expenses to the tune of $1 million and in spite of having top doctors; she was misdiagnosed and treated for a variety of psychiatric problems.  She suffered hallucinations, grunted like an animal and even attacked people. When Dr. Najjar was referred to her, he just asked her to draw a clock face and she ended up doing so with all the numbers of one side. Dr. Najjar knew immediately that the right side of the brain was inflamed. Susan was treated accordingly and saved from impending coma and fatality.

2Sensory desynchronization: Where a person hears people’s voices even before they speak

Talk about mental telepathy, this is another weird brain disease where just like a video with the dubbing out of sync, a patient suffering from this problem hears audio before it can be uttered by another person. Research in England found one man whom they just named “PH’ who could hear sound at 200ms or 1/5th of a second before his other senses act. The disease isn’t life threatening and PH has learned to live with his ESP type of condition.

3Huntingdon’s disease

This is one disease that is quite dangerous in nature because it leads to cognitive decline and breakdown. HD can attack people as young as 30 or 40 and lead to symptoms of nerve decline, involuntary movements, mood swings, jerking, irritability, depression and psychiatric disorders also. It will lead to social withdrawal and cognitive decline where a patient could be suffering for years and not be diagnosed for it. One famous case was country and folk singer Woody Guthrie who was misdiagnosed for years. There is no cure for HD as the disease can progress very aggressively. There is only treatment to manage symptoms.